Beginning in 1993, the process of transferring executive and legislative powers from the New Zealand administration to the National Assembly or the General Fono of Tokelau commenced in earnest. The Tokelau public service, under the authority of the village councils of elders, the tapulega, was only truly established once the New Zealand run State Services Commission was decommissioned. In documents from 1998, the processes of establishing the institutions for internal self-government and the previously non-existent national level in the atolls were described together under one heading, as building the ‘Modern House of Tokelau’. The metaphor of a house resonates with traditional ideas of governance and leadership in Tokelau. The formal address of the respective atolls is Falefitu or ‘seven-house’ (Atafu), Faleiva or ‘nine-house’ (Fakaofo) and Falefa or ‘four-house’ (Nukunonu). These forms of address refer to the atolls’ former division into large kin-groups, occupational specialisation (such as warriors, priests, etc.), to village areas and, at least on Fakaofo, to men’s houses (see MacGregor 1937; Huntsman and Hooper 1996).

Local perceptions and opinions on this exercise in governance—placing all under ‘one roof’, so to speak—were varied. Most agreed with the plan to relocate the Apia-based Tokelau administration and put it directly under the control of the elders. To make the three atolls work together as one nation was however not so easily achieved. A major difficulty emerged with respect to inter-atoll relations and the principle that the new political infrastructure should be based on Tokelau culture. A solution had to be found to what was unofficially called the ‘problem of rivalry’. This complex pattern of behaviour harks back to the ‘days of war’, a period when the people of Fakaofo ruled as overlords of the two other atolls (Hooper and Huntsman 1985). Fakaofo’s dominance was contested and it is still the case that an atoll’s or other social group’s claims to a position of ascendancy is likely to be challenged by others.

The major obstacle to implementing the new infrastructure was the issue of the location of the head office of the Tokelau administration. This presented a particular difficulty, as to choose a permanent location would be effectively to place the chosen island in a position of permanent ascendancy. No unanimous agreement could be reached between the three atolls. The only choice left was to rotate the head office between the three atolls and this was implemented from 1994. It was discontinued in 1997, due to the personal costs to the public servants who had to move home every year. The national head office was therefore moved back to Apia, although recently there has been pressure to return it to Tokelau.^[3]